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Gambling is not the future of our economy, and gambling laws should not be for sale.

In November 2013, the Government passed a Bill which bought a convention centre for Auckland: SkyCity might be building it - but New Zealanders are paying for it. In a murky 'back-room' deal, the National Party has signed over concessions to SkyCity which include 470 new pokies and automated gambling table stations, 40 new gambling tables and a licence extension until 2048.

Research clearly shows that more than 10,000 people a year will suffer because of this deal. Problem gambling doesn't just affect the gambler, it affects their families and their communities.

The "deal" is morally corrupt, with your help we fought it every step of the way. We will continue to fight it right up until the 2014 election.

In Government, we will act quickly. We have not committed to uphold the contract or the compensation and we will introduce much tougher rules in casinos and pokie bars.

Recent news about Gambling

Given this legislation does a number of positive things, the Greens will support this bill to the Government Administration Committee , but we do so with grave reservations regarding the potential weakening of the controls on gambling. More

"Documents released to the Green Party show the Ministry of Health was concerned there were risks around the transition of clients currently being cared for by the Problem Gambling Foundation," Ms Roche said today. More

Green Party MP Denise Roche today requested an inquiry into whether Peter Dunne should have included his involvement as chair of the Northern Wellington Festival Trust on the Register of Pecuniary Interests earlier than 2013. More

Prime Minister John Key needs to explain just why he has appointed Peter Dunne as Minister of Internal Affairs given his links to the pokie industry, Green Party gambling spokesperson Denise Roche said today. More

Today's revelations that SkyCity Casino is caught up in an alleged international crime syndicate comes as no surprise given the Government's inaction over money laundering in casinos, the Green Party said today. More

I am deeply saddened to be in a Parliament that will make a law that will cause its own citizens harm, and that will increase the prevalence of problem gambling in my city of Auckland, which will have an impact on individuals, on families, on our More

I have also thought that maybe to be more accurate, to more accurately reflect the impacts of this bill, we should call it the "Stealing Little Kids' Lunch Money to Build a Convention Centre Bill", because that is what happens to children who live in homes where one of their parents has a gambling problem. More

"... we should be ensuring that we have pieces of legislation inside this deal that reduce, and attempt to put some controls and some breaks on, the voracious desire to make a profit out of people's misery". More

This is where we get into the guts of the deal—the regulatory concessions. I think it is worthwhile to have a look at those regulatory concessions once again, because essentially this deal is a memorial to greed and to deprivation. More